Out of the Mist
by wiltedroses193
Summary: A mission gone wrong, a romance in the makings, and chaos all around as team members go missing on a search and rescue mission. Will Sakura be able to save them in time? SasuSaku NaruHina NejiTen ShikaIno
1. Prologue

Out of the Mist

**Out of the Mist**

**A.N. hey guys this is my first story EVER on fan fiction. i would personally like to thank my friend lindsay because without her i would be hopeless in trying to download this. Also if anyone would be willing to help me with any useful tips or suggestions because i truely am helpless with computers. Anyways thanks and enjoy.**

**Prologue **

Who would have guessed it would come to this? A simple A rank mission gone wrong. The whole team has gone missing, the forest slowly closing in from all sides. She heard that people who have gotten lost in the forests of Mist only to be found later sometimes go completely mad. That on top of the strange occurrences would definitely drive her to the point of insanity soon.

Flicking her bubblegum pink hair out of her eyes she scanned the clearing she was in. It wasn't large, just big enough for her team to have camped here. But now all traces of them, except for her had gone missing. Her whole team consisting of the rookie nine and Gai's team had disappeared into the mist.

Something flickered at the edge of her vision. She turned towards it, eyes widening upon realizing what she saw. The mist was slowly leaching out of the trees. Creeping up on her, its next and final victim. Maybe if she could make it back to the beach fast enough, she would have a chance to escape and go for help. But even now the mist was slowly creeping closer, and the beach was still pretty far, only the faintest sounds of the waves and sea birds made it to her ears. Besides, there was no guarantee that she would even make it through the forest with whatever it was out there. No she would have to face this thing, by herself, as the mist slowly surrounded her, until finally it engulfed her, leaving only a faint shadow of her outline, and soon even that disappeared too.

**Please review guys.Thanks**


	2. Chapter 1

Out of the Mist

**Out of the Mist**

**Chapter One**

"Sakura-channn!"

Sakura turned just in time to see a blur of blond before being tackled to the ground in a bear hug. "Naruto you baka! Look at us now, not only are we hot and sweaty but covered in dirt too."

"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto replied rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. " I just was really excited about you finally coming back." At this Sakura's glare softened. Ever since Sasuke had left her and Naruto had gotten closer and they were now like brother and sister. But she was a bit annoyed at now being covered in more dust than she already was.

"I forgot about how tired and sore you might be," he said while helping her up.

"Don't forget hot and sweaty too." Konoha had been under a heat wave for the past few weeks. Not only had everything become dried up to the point where crops and gardens were dying, but it was extremely hard to work under the hot sun, along with all the clouds of dust that were kicked up it just became down right miserable.

"Yeah, its been like this for so long now that I'm actually becoming accustomed to it," Naruto said, slightly shivering at the thought. "It only bugs me now when I'm working. Or training. Oh and eating. Also when I'm thirsty…" he continued slowly trailing off with a frown.

"So in other words almost all the time," she said while laughing out loud. " So Naruto listen up. I have to go report to the hokage and then take a shower, but how about you round up Sasuke while I do that and then we'll meet for ramen?"

"Absolutely! You know I could never pass up a bowl of ramen with you Sakura-chan. I'll go find that teme and meet you at the ramen stand in a while!" the last part he yelled while running off in search of Sasuke.

Shaking her head slowly she turned towards the hokage tower and set off. She had been on a relatively simple A-rank mission on the border of fire country and rock for about three weeks curing a village of this sickness that seemed to have been caused by using a new fertilizing product on their crops. It had gotten into their water systems and had slowly been poisoning them, but luckily they had found the cause and an antidote to speed up the progress of healing.

Speaking of returns, it was almost the two-year mark of Sasuke's to the village. The lucky bastard had gotten of easy with only a two-year probation, one of which was spent under the strict watch of the ANBU, and was now almost over with. The only reason he had gotten off so easy was because he had killed Orochimaru, but even now he wasn't powerful enough to kill his brother. He had returned in hope that he would be able to acquire enough power here, even though he left us all those years ago saying we would only hold him back. Maybe that was true then, but all of us were on the same level now. At the age of eighteen the rookie nine (except Shikamaru) Tenten and Lee were jounin. Neji and Shikamaru were ANBU and Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura herself would be joining them soon.

Reaching the hokage tower she quickly climbed up the stairs. Yes many things had changed. Sakura was no longer the weakest link on team seven. After Sasuke had left she had an epiphany and realized that she was being foolish, letting herself fall behind all because of a stupid boy who left her unconscious on a bench. So she set to work training, growing stronger, learning to heal and becoming Tsunade's apprentice. She was now an accomplished medic who worked at the hospital when she wasn't on missions, and was said to be the next best healer with only Tsunade and Shizune as her betters. She was strong and independent and was no longer a foolish little girl with a crush on an even more foolish little boy. No, she had grown up and she wasn't in love with Uchiha Sasuke anymore.

Reaching Tsunade's office she knocked and waited until she heard a come in before entering. Looking up from one of the many stacks of paper work on her desk Tsunade smiled at her.

"Ah Sakura your back and well, good to see. I was beginning to wonder how serious this sickness was and was going to send back-up if you hadn't arrived back by the end of the week."

"Well its good to know you care shishou, but everything was fine, it just took a while to help the villagers get the poison out of their water system," Sakura explained.

"Well that's understandable. Now I know that you know that you have to have your report for me on my desk tomorrow. Also is there any chance you could buy me some sake, Shizune threw all of my remaining bottles out," Tsunade question.

"Oh Tsunade-shishou you know that she does it only because you drink way too much, besides what would you do without Shizune. And maybe if I have time to go out I'll buy you some, but I'm going to meet with Naruto and Sasuke for dinner. But we'll see, I have to load up on groceries anyways." Sighing Sakura turned away to head out.

"Sakura before you leave let's make a deal. You make the time to buy me a bottle of sake, and I'll teach you a new jutsu," Tsunade said, an all-knowing smirk dancing across her pretty face. She knew Sakura would never turn down the chance of learning a new jutsu.

Sighing Sakura nodded and left the room. She walked home quickly, and bought a bottle of sake on her way, or else she would never get to it. She quickly walked to her housing complex, and climbed up to the second floor. Turning left upon exiting the stairwell, she walked down the hall to the room at the end. Fishing the key on the chain on her neck out from her shirt, she pulled it off her head and opened the door. Quietly stepping inside she scanned over the place, looking for anything amiss.

It was a medium sized apartment that would be big enough for two. It had a small kitchen in the left hand corner, right of the small entrance hallway from the door. On my immediate right was a small coat closet for shoes and stuff. Separating the kitchen from the living room/lounge was a counter that also had a stove and oven built in on one side, and high stools for sitting on and eating meals at the counter on the other side. Just between the lounge area and the counter was a hall leading down to the guest room and the bathroom in that room. She mostly used it as storage space except for the odd sleepovers she had with her friends. Back in the lounging area on the left hand wall there was a large sofa and opposite it was a good-sized television with a table in-between. Straight ahead from the door way was a smaller loveseat, and behind that was a sliding glass door leading to the balcony that ran from the guest room to her room. On the right side a couple feet away from the TV was another hallway directly across from the one that led to the guest room. But instead this one lead to her room and the bathroom connected to it.

After checking out her apartment she headed straight to her room. Dumping her backpack of stuff on her bed, she just left it there, deciding to unpack it later. Walking over to her closet she searched through it grabbing a slightly nicer outfit, bough specifically for going out with friends, not for work or training. Heading to the bathroom with her clothes she turned on the hot water in the shower and stripped down. Jumping it she rinsed off and washed her hair. When she got out she toweled off, combed and dried her hair, and quickly got dressed. Not bothering with any make-up she just grabbed a small handbag to put her wallet in and left to go meet Naruto and Sasuke.

**A.N. Hey guys i hope you liked it. Its a little bit of a filler chapter just to get going. Next chapter things will really start to pick up so no worries.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys I'm back. Things pick up a bit in this chapter, so i hope you enjoy it. I also realized i forgot to put disclaimers in the past chapters so I'll start now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and unfortunately never will.**

Now on with the story.

**Out of the Mist**

**Chapter 2**

After leaving her apartment, Sakura walked quickly down to Ichiraku's ramen stand, where Naruto and Sasuke would be waiting for her. As she walked, she noticed a few heads belonging to the male's population turn to watch her as she walked by.

_Well _she thought, _it's not often they see me in clothing like this._ Throughout the years Sakura had matured and grown to be quite lovely. Though she didn't have the gorgeousness of Ino's platinum blond hair and dazzling blue eyes, she had an exotic look to her, and possessed a grace in her actions that caught the attention of many. With her short pink locks cut to just past her shoulders at the longest point, and her mesmerizing emerald eyes, no one could deny that Sakura Haruno was indeed a beauty. And with the outfit she was wearing now, she looked as pretty as ever.

Walking into the ramen bar she was greeted with the backs of two blond and raven-haired heads. At the sound of her footsteps both shinobi turned around to look at her, and nearly dropped their chopsticks. Well Naruto nearly did, Sasuke just kind of blinked in surprise.

"Sakura-chan, aren't you a little overdressed just for dinner?" Naruto asked carefully, just incase she turned her temper on him. Smiling she sat down on the seat in between them that they saved for her.

"Well, if it was just for dinner then yes, I would be. But dinner isn't all I have planned for tonight," she replied with a mischievous glint lighting up her eyes.

"What else do you have planned that we don't know about," asked Sasuke, speaking for the first time since she arrived.

"Actually Sasuke-teme, it's just you that doesn't know," Naruto explained, slowly catching on to why Sakura was dressed up, once he remembered what day it was. Looking at them questioningly, or as questioningly as you can with a blank stare, Sasuke waited patiently for them to explain.

"See, today is the second Tuesday of the month," Sakura started. "Today is the day Ino, Hinata, and me would have off from working at the hospital if we weren't on missions. Since I got back today, and I know that neither Ino, Hinata, nor their teams are on any missions, we are going out tonight to a bar like we have planned for every day we all have off together."

"One thing Sakura-chan, why didn't you remind me earlier before I went to get Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"Well if I told you then, you would have told Sasuke, and he would have refused to come out at all," she explained. Sasuke just scowled when he heard this, but he didn't deny it because it was probably true.

"Well you certainly look very pretty today Sakura-chan!" Naruto complimented. Even Sasuke couldn't deny that Sakura looked nice.

She was wearing an outfit that her and Ino had picked out on one of their shopping trips. It was a halter-top that went down to mid thigh, and had ruffles going down from her waist to the bottom of the top, making that part resemble a skirt. The top was a deep forest green, a shade darker than her eyes, and really seemed to make them more noticeable. At the top of the shirt tying it around her neck to make the halter part of the outfit was a black ribbon. At the bottom on the underneath side of the ruffles it was also black. Under the shirt she wore leggings on her legs that went down in just below her knees where they ended with about an inch of lace.

On her feet she wore black wedges that were only about a half of an inch tall. They had an open toe from which you could see a few of her toes sticking out of, and around her ankle instead of the usual strap that would buckle up, there was a small backing to the shoe that a ribbon attached to, and you would wrap the ribbon around your leg up to mid calf to give it the "ballet slipper" look, and hold the shoe on.

All in all she looked rather stunning in the outfit, and was enjoying being dressed up for once. Ino would be proud that she was rubbing off on Sakura.

Just then a steaming bowl of miso ramen was placed in front of her, and she broke her chopsticks apart and started eating carefully.

"So Naruto, I'm assuming that your coming tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah! I wouldn't miss it for the world. We don't get to hang out with the rest of the rookie nine often enough anymore. I'll be there, believe it!" he practically shouted. Some things will never change.

"And Sasuke what about you?" she asked quietly, knowing that the answer will probably be a no.

Sasuke pondered this for a while. While he was generally not a social person, and bars and clubs were for social people, the obvious answer would be a no. But he hasn't really connected with his old batch group, and he knew they were still mad at him for leaving. Not that he really cared to much about their friendship, but he didn't want their sour feeling affecting their teamwork on missions, and he needed some support here in the village, just in case something went wrong and he got in trouble and went up against a trial again. This would be a good way to reconcile again, and at least gain their trust. Though it was totally going to be a pain in the ass. There would be dancing and flirting fan girls bugging him the whole time, but at least he could ignore them there would be alcohol too.

Sighing he turned back to look at Sakura who was waiting patiently for his answer. _She does look nice tonight_ he thought before pushing the thought away. This wasn't the time to get close to anyone when everyone knew he would be leaving again eventually. Besides thinking like that would only lead to troublesome feeling. He did not have feeling for Sakura Haruno or anyone else, and never would.

He blinked back into the present when he heard her ask him again. Sighing he looked at her and said, "Hn. I'll go."

Sakura and Naruto almost fell of their seat when they heard this. Looking at him strangely they didn't bother to question his motives seeing how he had started ignoring him again, and most likely wouldn't answer. Who knows maybe he just wanted to make up for all those lost years and renew those old bonds he broke with their friends.

Finishing up their ramen, they paid and left the restaurant together, and walked towards the bar. Even though Naruto and Sasuke weren't dressed up like Sakura to go out, they still looked handsome like they always did. Naruto with his rugged looks, blond hair, and blue eyes not only attracted attention with his appearance, but he was also quite the charmer when he wanted to be. Sasuke with his more aristocratic looks, dark hair and eyes, and moody disposition, perfectly fit the description of tall dark and handsome. Even though both boys wore their everyday clothes, they would still fit into the club easily.

Walking through the door, they were greeted by a bunch of catcalls directed to Sakura. Ignoring them along with all the invites to sit with them, she peered over the crowd looking for their friends.

When Sasuke and Naruto saw all the attention that Sakura was getting, they both unconsciously stepped a little closer. Scanning over the crowd too, Sasuke was the first to spot their friends and pointed them out before making their way over.

Not only was the entire rookie nine there, but so was Gai's team. A little surprised by their appearance there, Sakura wasn't prepared for Lee's loud greeting and speech of how "youthful" she looked tonight. Once she escaped from Lee (thanks to Naruto), Sakura went and sat with Hinata, Ino, and Tenten at their table. In all everyone took up about three tables, with the girls at one, and the guys residing at the other two. This way the girls were free to talk and gossip about whatever they wished. Sitting down at one side of the table, Sakura had Hinata on her right, Ino on her left, and Tenten right across from her.

"Hey girls," she greeted. "Tenten I wasn't expecting you and your team here. When did you get back from your mission?"

"We got back earlier today, just a little while before you did," she explained. After that the conversation moved on, the topic ranging from clothes, to work, to who the girls had crushes on.

"So Ino, have you managed to capture Shikamaru's attention yet?" Tenten asked Ino.

"Ugh, unless you mean catching his attention by having to yell at him all the time, then no. For a genius he's just so dense sometimes," Ino complained.

Laughing, Sakura added, "He's not the only dense one. Naruto is still totally oblivious to poor Hinata here. He doesn't even catch on that she only stutters in front of him anymore."

Sighing Hinata nodded and said, "It's true, but there's not much I can do."

"Well you could confess to him that you like him," Ino said stating the obvious.

"Oh I could never do that, besides Naruto-kun would never like me back," poor Hinata said quietly.

"What are you talking about, of course he would, he's just to dumb to realize that you like him," Tenten explained.

"Well what about you Tenten? How are things going with Neji?" Sakura asked slyly.

Blushing slightly Tenten confessed, " I told him the other day I liked him." At this point squealing interrupted her. Glaring at them to shut up she continued. "He said that he liked me too, but right now we cant be anything more than just friends, until fate decides that the time is right to become more. He explained that he's very busy right now with being in the ANBU and clan matters, but maybe in the future. But for now, he hopes that I'll wait for him and that this won't make things awkward between us."

"Then what happened?" Ino asked excitedly.

"Well then I told him I would wait for him no matter what, and then just before he left I totally surprised him and kissed him!" Tenten exclaimed jumping up and down in her seat. When the girls heard this they all squealed and hugged her, shouting congrats and other stuff.

_Tenten is so lucky she found someone who loves her back_ Sakura thought._ I wish I had someone like that._ Suddenly an image of Sasuke popped into her head. Quickly pushing it away, she reminded herself that she was no longer in love with him and that meant that those images meant nothing. She would just ignore that random tingly feeling she got, and how a blush just randomly spread all over her face when she thought of him.

Suddenly someone tapped her on the shoulder, shaking out of her thoughts. Turning around, she discovered it was a handsome man, around her age, that had tapped her.

Smiling politely she asked, "Can I help you?"

The man, who had light brown hair that was slightly long and fell into his blue eyes, smiled at her before speaking. "Hi, my name is Tayano. I was just wondering if you would like to dance?" he asked, nodding his head at the dance floor.

Smiling at his courage for coming to ask her, and how polite he seemed she stood up and took his outstretched hand. "I'm Sakura, and of course, I would love to dance with you." Letting him lead her to the dance floor they started to dance, while talking and getting to know each other a bit.

Meanwhile, a couple of other guys followed Tayano's lead and went to ask Hinata and Ino to dance. Neji, deciding he didn't want anyone to dance with Tenten, and would save himself some trouble later with her, swallowed his pride and got up and asked Tenten to dance.

As the girls (and Neji) danced away, the guys discovered they had an extreme disliking towards the men dancing with the girls. Well except for Neji, because he was their friend, and they knew he had a thing for Tenten. Naruto, being the hyperactive knucklehead he was, was the first to get fed up and bounded over to where Hinata was. Not really understanding the strange feeling he was over come with, and being a generally nice person to everyone but Sasuke, he politely asked if he may cut in and have the next dance.

Shikamaru on the other hand was too lazy to go over and ask if he could dance. Instead, he planned on asking Ino when she came to take her heels off. Judging by how high they were, and how little support they gave to her ankles, that would be pretty soon. So when she excused herself from the man she was dancing with, and walked unsteadily back to her table, he slowly got up and walked over to ask her.

Ino, who was visibly startled when he asked, tugged her shoes off and left them at the table so she could go and dance. She dragged Shikamaru over to a spot by Hinata, and winked at her when she saw that Naruto was dancing with her. Hinata then visibly blushed a shade darker than she already was, and just looked down at her feet smiling slightly.

Sitting at his table alone, since Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji all left, Sasuke was brooding. Even though he liked being left alone, it wouldn't stay that way for long. So getting up Sasuke decided to get himself a drink, or maybe a few.

A little while later Sakura started to get tired, and her feet started to hurt. Deciding she had danced enough, she excused her self, and went to sit down. Seeing as how her friends were all still going strong, dancing with their crushes, she decided to get herself a drink. Heading towards the bar, she noticed a familiar, spiky haired head that resembled a chicken's ass. Sitting in an unoccupied seat beside him she ordered a drink. Once it had been placed in front of her and she'd taken a sip, she turned towards her teammate.

"Sasuke, why are you sitting over here?" she asked.

Even though he was drunk he didn't slur as he said, "Everyone at my table went off dancing."

"Oh," she said. For a few minutes they sat in silence together. Each one was thinking about things, until amazingly, it was Sasuke who broke the silence.

"You've changed a lot," he stated.

"Yeah, I guess I have."

"When I came back," he started hesitantly, "I guess I was expecting things to have somewhat stayed the same. I mean I knew everyone was going to have grown up, but I guess I still expecting them to have stayed at the same levels." Pausing he to another sip of his drink before continuing. "Out of everyone you changed the most."

"I haven't changed that much," she defended.

Turning to look at her completely he went on, " Yes you have. You know, I never expected you to get higher than chuunin, but you did. I always thought you would need Naruto and me to protect you. But you don't anymore."

"No, your right, I don't," she said not looking at him a little hurt he had thought so lowly of her before.

Standing up he looked at her one last time. "Sometimes, I wish you still did." And with that he left. He got up and walked away, running from his problems once again.

Sakura was shocked at his little revelation. What did that mean, he wished she still needed their help sometimes. Wasn't he the one that said her being a burden was annoying? Wasn't he the one who said she was weak? Now maybe it had just been all the alcohol, because judging from all the glasses at his spot, in was a miracle he could walk and talk normally. But she once heard that even when your drunk, you would never do something that you wouldn't when your sober. So maybe, just maybe, this was Sasuke's way of saying he cared? One thing was for sure though, she'd just have to figure it out, and then decide what to do about it.

**A.N. Hey guys sorry it took so long. i had exams but schools out now so I'll be posting more often. I hope you liked this chapter. The romance started here and i plan to have the mission start in the next chapter. **

**Please Review!!**


	4. Chapter 3

** A.N. Hey guys. Sorry about not updating at all. I was really busy this summer. I spent all of July volunteering at a camp to get hours for highschool done in my first year. i also had baseball throughout the week so i was really tired. Then i had camp in August and i was away a lot so this last week of summer has really been the only time I've had to write. Though thats not really an excuse. Hopefully I will update more often if the first few weeks of grade ten arent to busy. Also because i kept forgetting in the forst few chapters, i will do a disclaimer right now while i remember.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters. I wish I did.**

Out of the Mist

Ch. 3

The next few weeks passed uneventfully for Sakura. Despite her efforts she never did get speaking to Sasuke about what he had said that one night in the bar. Because of her job in the hospital she had been kept rather busy because of all the normal patients and emergencies. It wasn't until about two and a half weeks later that Sakura was called to the Hokage Tower for the mission.

Upon entering Tsunade's office she realized that all of the rookie nine were there as well as Gai's team. Surprised at the number of people there she instantly was on alert. After all it was everyday you found this many people being sent out on a mission.

Coughing to catch their attention, all eyes turned too Tsunade with almost visible concern in most. "Now I know you are all wondering why I summoned so many of you here. Well yes, you are all going on a mission, and it is a high ranked A-class bordering on S-classed mission that I am sending you on.

Nodding in understanding about how difficult this mission may be, they continued to stay quiet and lat her explain.

"Lately we have been receiving reports about how people have been going missing in a certain area in Mist. As you all know Mist is made up of many islands, and with all the mist, it can be difficult to navigate. This is the reason for your large numbers. Because it is such a large expanse to cover, and the difficulty of traveling the waters, as well as islands, I needed to send a large group. Because you all work so well together and I know you're all skilled enough for this mission, I decided to send you."

"Do we know what is causing the disappearances Hokage-sama?" Neji questioned.

Shaking her head Tsunade continued, "unfortunately we don't. The only reason we are even taking this mission instead of Mist shinobi is because all the men they have sent out have disappeared as well."

"Just how many people have disappeared Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked.

"A Daimyo's whole family and guards along with two ANBU squads that were sent to find them." Tsunade sighed. "We have absolutely no clue who or what could have done this."

"What do you mean by, or what?" Shikamaru asked.

"The only clue we have of whatever did this is a report from a local near the area that would go to the Daimyo's vacation home there every week to bring food. The man was found stranded in his boat just off the coast of the island quaking in fear. He reportedly said that when he arrived at the compound as he did every week something was wrong, and no one was there. There weren't any guards around and the gates were open. There were some weapons on the ground, but other than that there didn't seem to be any other signs of a struggle. When the man said he was about to leave, he heard a terrifying scream, and then a shriek that didn't even sound human. He said it was nothing like he had ever heard before. Then he claimed a mist started rising out of nowhere, and he heard a strange noise. After that the reports said that they had a hard time understanding what was left of the man's story. They think that from what he said that he ran for it back to the beach, and it was possible that something was pursuing him."

"And there are no more witnesses or any reports of what could be happening on this island?" Sasuke spoke up.

"Nothing," Tsunade said shaking her head. "No one has ventured back to the island since the two teams went missing, and at the risk of losing more shinobi they've asked for our help."

"We'll do it." Naruto shouted.

Smacking him in the back of the head, Sasuke muttered, "Dobe. It's not like we had a choice in the matter."

"Ow, teme. Are you trying to start something?!" Naruto yelled back at him.

"Both of you stop being so troublesome and let the Hokage finish what she was saying," interrupted Shikamaru, effectively putting the oncoming fight to a stop, and saving Naruto from a painful death from the thick book Tsunade was eyeing on top of her desk.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," at this point everyone turned to glare at Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "you will all be sent out, with Shikamaru and Neji as you team leaders since they are the highest rank." Tossing a scroll over to Neji with the mission details in it she continues, " That has further details on the mission. You are to meet at the gates in one hour's time. We are not sure about how long this mission will take, so I suggest you pack enough supplies to last from more than two weeks time, just in case. Good luck, you are all dismissed.

At this point everyone left and headed off their separate ways to pack for their mission. Sakura returning to her home pondered the latest mission to be assigned. This was an interesting development. It wasn't everyday that, that amount of people went missing, including two ANBU squads. Whomever, or whatever, their opponent may be, they were certainly going to be up for a good battle. She couldn't wait to get started.

Packing quickly, all the basic thing she may need, along with her weapons and a good book, since she was bound to be sitting on a boat for a while, she packed everything away along with a couple sets of clothes into her pack. Changing into her mission gear and re-strapping on her kunai holster more firmly, she reset all the traps around her house, made sure all the windows were closed, and double checked everything. Closing the door behind her as she left, she locked it and set off for the gate.

Arriving to find Neji, Tenten, Lee, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sasuke already there, she went over and started talking with them. Soon enough everyone else arrived and they prepared to leave.

Moving to the front Shikamaru caught everyone's attention. "Alright everyone listen up. The travel formation will be as followed: Neji and Tenten will be upfront because of Neji's bloodline and Tenten's long range attacks. Then Kiba and Akamaru will be behind them. Lee is next because of his taijutsu. Then Sakura and Sasuke, Sakura because for her chakra sensing abilities, and Sasuke because of his ninjutsu abilities. Also because Sakura you are our main medic, if we are attacked, please try not to engage, because if you were injured, well that would be bad to simply put it. Sasuke this means I want you to keep a look out just in case. Sakura stop looking at me like that, we all know you are perfectly capable of protecting yourself, it's only a precaution." Stopping her glare, Sakura sighed and let him continue.

"Moving on. After that Ino and I will follow because of our families' special jutsus. Then will be Choji and Shino, because of Shino's bugs, I want him near the back incase of a rear attack, and Choji because of his taijutsu. Then bringing up the rear I want Hinata and Naruto, because I need Hinata to watch for an ambush from the back with her bloodline, and Naruto being a ninjutsu specialist, will be able to provide sufficient protection for the heiress."

Finished with his explanations everyone got into order beside their respective partner, and they headed out.

**A.N. Ok guys I've been pretty disappointed with the amount of reviews. Since this is my first story and all, and because I'm actually not that old and experienced your reviews really motivate me and help a lot. I'm not going to threaten you, but i really would like some more reviews. Not only do the motivate me, but because this is my first fic, they help me a lot since I'm not that experienced as some other writers. So plz if you could take the time and review that be great. Tips and story plot ideas are appreciated and welcomed.  
So please review and enjoy  
Wiltedroses193**


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